So let’s talk about characters. After finishing up each part of the elements of the story we will go on how to build each one. Again characters! They are the “IT” in your story. They are the force on moving the story forward. It doesn’t necessarily mean that it has to be a person, it could be an animal, a thing it just has to be the item on what you will rely to see and feel while reading through the end.
Because of the characters, you will see how the world moves. How other characters interact with one another. How time, laws, climate, wealth, health affects them. It doesn’t matter what you write about they are your conductors.
Usually for writers character development is one of the most exciting parts of the story. You create, you give birth to this imaginary or close to a real person and you give it a personality, weapons, emotions, a moral compass, etc., just so that your piece is that much exciting. If you put a character who is almighty and does not go through any adversity, that doesn’t play out good for the audience. People like seen characters fail or almost fail. They like the struggle, the overcoming of obstacles. That’s why many underdog movies and books are that exciting. People connect to that little hope. That little light at the end of the tunnel and they rude for the characters.
So what is your story about? Is it fantasy? Do you need to create the ultimate warrior or do you need a squire that will go up the ranks to battle the evil king? Will you use hobbits and equip them with elves, dwarves, and humans so there is a diverse group of personalities, abilities, and troubleshooting interactions like The Lord of The Ring?
You could give maybe a comic persona to one of the characters to relieve some tension if the book is a serious one. Just imagine for a moment your circle of friends, co-workers. In those circles you will have people in the same position or close to the same likes and dislikes, yet each person has a different view on how life works. Now that you know that… how much interesting your story can be to you? To an audience. You know the story already, but you need at a certain point please strangers into liking it.
One thing to take into consideration when going through characters is time and place. What do you need to do? RESEARCH!
If you are doing a story on the past, verify the diversity in people, chances are that people back then were not all the same ethnic group unless you do something in a smaller case in which the group doesn’t accept outsiders. If it is something on today’s time? Almost all places in the world have influences from multicultural backgrounds. If it is in the future? That place is a bit of a toss-up because you can go as far as re-imagine how your future would be. Is it something new? Would there be humans? Different races (meaning actual races, not different skin colors which is not multi-racial just human). Elves? Unicorns? Aliens? New species? How you choose diversity will enrich your story and can actually attract more audiences who can actually connect with more characters.
Another thing you can do to make audiences love or understand characters is to give them a backstory. You maybe don’t need to put it on the actual book, story if it is not necessary, yet it will have much weight on how your characters are to be. On Good Will Hunting the main character has problems because of an abusive father. He does not let people in. Batman and Spiderman lost close relatives that boost why they have this urgency to be vigilant in their respective cities. Superman’s adoptive parents try to teach him the good were it is evil. And so and on. Why your characters do what they do is how you can finish knitting your complex story and audiences will care for them.
So how do you know a bit of character, this will be much fun when we get to create them in a future post. Take care guys!